William Charles Soale

William Charles Soale was born on the 4th of February, 1907 on Anton Street, Hackney, London. He was the only child of his parents. His father was William George Soale (1878 - abt. 1906) and his mother was Emily Amelia Jane Kimpton (1884-1916).

His father was not around when he was born and it would not be until the 8th of March, 1907 when his mother Emily Kimpton was registered as "being in charge" of his care at Mare Street in Hackney, London.

By 1909, three years after the marriage of William Charles’s parents, his father was still missing. 

His mother had already left the house at Ashenden Road, Upper Clapton, London with William Charles to go live at her mother’s house instead. Given that she was not working at the time, it is possible that she could not afford to stay at her husband’s place.

On the 21st of February, 1909, William Charles Soale was baptised at the church of St. Michael and all Angels in Hackney. 

At the same time, by 1908, William Charles's grandparents and aunts on the Soale side had emigrated to Miami in Florida. His uncle, Richard John Soale, meanwhile, resided in Walthamstow. 

Due to a possible family rift around 1903 between William George Soale and the rest of the Soales, it seems unlikely William Charles would have met any of them. 

By 1911, William Charles Soale was 4 years old, living only with his mother, widowed grandmother (Mrs Kimpton) and Mrs Kimpton’s other children (Charles, Louie) on West Street, London Fields in Hackney. By this time, his parents had been married 5 years and were still not living together. His mother worked in domestic service while his father, William George Soale was a wine cellarman. 

Based on what I could find out, it seems likely that William Charles Soale’s father died before or just around the time William Charles was born. If William Charles Soale was to be baptised at all, why wait until two years after he had been born unless his mother was perhaps waiting for the father to reappear? William George Soale had previously lost two daughters Esther Ann Soal (1899-1899) and Hilda Esther Soale (1900-1902) and they were both baptised within weeks of their births. I have found other information which suggests this theory to be true which I will detail on the William George Soale page once that is finalised. 

By 1916, William Charles’s father was presumed dead but it is not known what happened to him. There are no records of him taking part in the 1911 Census or departing to Miami with the other Soales, nor is there any death certificate for him anywhere or any record of him immigrating to other locations. There is a record of a Mr W Soale immigrating to Cape Town in 1910 but this record does not seem to match what I have found out about William George Soale. 

By 1916 William Charles’s mother would remarry. British law stated back then that if a person had been missing for more than 7 years, they were presumed to be dead, which implies the disappearance had to have occurred between 1906 and 1909. 

This presumption of death allowed William Charles’s widowed mother to remarry in the district of Mile End in Tower Hamlets, London to Benjamin Swain, a brewery labourer on the 15th of March 1916. 

William Charles Soale and his mother presumably then moved to live with her new husband at Ann’s Road in Stepney. 

Given that Benjamin Swain, Henry Barrett (the father of Lillian Barrett) and William George Soale all held very similar job positions, perhaps it is possible they worked at the same place. Perhaps this is also how William Charles Soale could have met his wife Lillian Barrett.

Around the same time William George disappeared, in 1906, Henry Barrett was promoted from 'wine merchant's servant' to 'cellarman.' Perhaps Henry Barrett and William George were coworkers. William Charles also went to stay at Henry Barrett's house in Dalby Street where Lillian was also living, so perhaps this could have been how William Charles met her. 

If Benjamin Swain or Henry Barrett were coworkers of William George Soale, perhaps them having not seen him gave Emily Kimpton the confirmation she needed that her husband was not around anymore. 

William Charles’s mother worked as a cashier until she died aged 32 at St Bartholomews Hospital in London City on the 27th of March 1916 from a coma caused by uraemia and an atrophic kidney. 

Records suggest that when William Charles Soale was orphaned in 1916, he went back to living with Mrs Kimpton, his uncle Charles, a gas inspector, his aunt Louie (1888-1963), a perfume finisher and Louie’s husband Albert James Moore (Born 1887), who worked in oil (possibly for ships) and was also a manager of colours.

The first world war suddenly broke out and William’s uncle Charles Kimpton was called up to fight. His uncle was killed on the 26th of October 1917 in France fighting in action. 

By 1921, William Charles’s new guardians were his aunt Louie Moore (1888-1963) and his uncle-by-marriage Albert James Moore (Born 1887). He lived with them on Warden Road, St Pancras with his cousin Vera Gladys Moore (1915-1946). 

Adoption before the 1926 Adoption Act was not formal and could be arranged by families. In 1916, William Charles's uncle Richard John Soale who lived in Walthamstow may have had a stronger claim to adopt William over his aunt. This could also suggest that William Charles had no communication with the other soales. Perhaps following the possible rift between William George and the other Soales, Richard John Soale did not know of William Charles or the Kimptons. In which case there was no dispute to be made as both parties would have had no knowledge of the other. 

Dalby Street where Henry Barrett and his daughter Lillian lived was only a 6 minute walk from Warden Road, St Pancras where William's aunt Louie Moore and Albert James Moore both lived at from 1918 to 1936, whereas the locations of all the other potential adopters are considerably longer distances. Albert James Moore was also a signed witness to William Charles’s marriage to Lillian Ethel Barrett.

William Charles Soale would also later give his house at Bassett Street to Louie and Albert James Moore, so he must have had a close relationship with them. 

In 1921, at the age of 14, William Charles Soale began working as shop assistant at the Corner Fish Restaurant on Camden road while his uncle was now a shop assistant at Murray General Stores. Given that Albert Moore dealt with colours and was the son of a painter, it is likely he taught William Charles Soale how to paint, a hobby his children would inherit from him when they made paintings of boats and ships. 

Given the occupations and activities of the Kimptons, Soales and their close associates being linked to ships and dock work, it is possible William Charles made paintings of boats and ships himself and would pass this skill onto his children who made paintings of boats and ships. 

When William Charles Soale began living with Lillian Ethel Barrett and her father on Dalby Street, London he married her at the church St Martin in London on the 26th of December, 1927. Lillian Barrett (1908-1981) was the daughter of Henry Barrett (1883-1936) and Kezia Jones (1884-1974), and was one of six children including Harry, Irene, Olive, Edith and Barbara. 

In 1928 he had his first son, Anthony William Soale (1928-1999).

In 1929 both William Charles Soale and Lillian Barrett moved to Holmes Road in St Pancras to live with her mother Kezia Barrett, sister Irene Barrett and Henry Barrett. 

By 1939, William Charles Soale was a groceries shop manager in St Pancras. The second world war had broken out and Anthony was sent away to safety at Avondale Road in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.

Lillian Barrett’s father, Henry Barrett (1883-1936) was also a groceries assistant at the time of her marriage to William Charles Soale.

William Charles Soale and Lillian Barrett moved to Bassett Street in St Pancras, where he was registered to vote up until 1945.

William's life oversaw both world wars. He was too young to fight in the first world war and there are no records that I can find anywhere of him fighting in the second. Usually if a man was exempt from fighting in the second world war it was because they either worked in a key industry such as farming, baking, engineering, or were medically unfit. 

Assuming William Charles Soale was working as a groceries store manager and living in St Pancras for the entirety of 1939 to 1945 then this would suggest he did not fight in the second world war.

It is possible that he may have had a disability such as a clubbed foot. One of his daughters was born with this condition so she may have inherited it from him. 

Based on the photos below, it seems possible he may have had clubbed feet or some other disability. On one of the pictures below he has a waterproof protector covering both his leg and foot, which may imply he was wearing a cast underneath. His right foot and ankle appear rather clubbed in the same picture and in others which I have of him, which could indicate that both of his feet were clubbed but that perhaps one was more clubbed than the other. 

In nearly every picture I have of him where he stands, he appears to have his arm held by Lillian which suggests to me it was long-term condition he was born with rather than a leg injury. In 1907 when he was born, there was no NHS or public healthcare so his family may not have had the money to have his condition treated.

If he did have clubbed feet, then modern methods for clubbed feet did not exist at the time of the 1920s to 1940s. The methods available at the time of the photos below would have included Kite's method which involved using casting to correct the position of the foot. Superior methods would not emerge until much later in the 20th century. 

In the aftermath of the second war, before 1946, he and his wife Lillian moved to Limbury Road in Luton, Bedforshire.  

In 1946, he gave his old house on Bassett Street to his aunt Louie Eleanor Naomi Moore who lived there from 1946 until her death in 1963.

In the 1940s Anthony William Soale was of fighting age and was called up for National Service to serve in the British Navy. 

By the 1950s, William Charles Soale had his clubbed foot condition corrected and was working as a security officer at the ball bearing factory in Luton.

Judging by the photos I was given it appears my great grandfather (William Charles Soale) loved to smoke and drink. Based on family accounts he was a very warm and friendly man with many talents, which were passed down to his son and two daughters.

He and Lillian would take Anthony and his sisters to camping sites. It seems William showed Anthony how to paint ships and boats. Anthony also played the clarinet, although it is not clear who he acquired this skill from or whether he was self-taught.

His son Anthony would go to visit him and Lillian at their home in Luton. Anthony would bring his children to visit William and Lillian would bring out the toys.

William Charles Soale died on the 17th January of 1961 at the Dunstable Hospital, Luton in Bedford, Bedfordshire from liver cancer. Anthony was present at the time of father's passing. William was 53 years old.

His life spanned The Sinking of The Titanic (1912), The First World War (1914 - 1918), The Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917 - 1923), The Great Depression (1929 - 1930s), The Second World War (1939 - 1945), The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Negasaki (1945), The Cold War (1947-1991), Decolonisation (1945-1975), The Formation of the United Nations (1945), The Chinese Civil War (1945 - 1949), the Korean War, the beginning of the Vietnam war, and some of the cold war, as well as the reigns of the British Monarchs: Edward VII, George V,  Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II, British Prime Ministers: Campbell-Bannerman, Asquith, Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Baldwin, MacDonald, Chamberlain, Churchill. Attlee, Eden, Macmillan, US Presidents: Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower. UK Key Events: Suffragette Movement (1903-1918), Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), The Welfare State (1945-1979), Indian Independence 1947, Suez Crisis 1956.